Fantasy football: why you should sign Krul and Fernandinho

The January transfer window might still be waiting to burst into life by mean of a bumper deal as, so far, the winter transfer window has merely trudged along at slow pace.

However, if you want to experience the feeling of signing players for fun like Roman Abramovich and Daniel Levy, there’s still time to shake-up your fantasy team ahead of the weekend and, just like every other Friday, we have some very clever(ish) suggestions.

1) Wojciech Szczesny

Mesut Ozil’s arrival has galvanised Arsenal, Jack Wilshere has taken a break from being injured on a weekly basis to prove everyone that, you know, he’s rather good at football and the BFG (that’s Per Mertesacker, for those of you not familiar with the German’s nickname) has been superb defensively.

But, well, credit where it’s due, for if Arsenal have the league’s best defensive record in the league (alongside Chelsea and Everton) it’s in no small part thanks to the Polish stopper’s performances.

Szczesny has kept nine clean sheet so far and could add another one on Saturday, as Arsenal host Fulham, with the Cottagers having scored a grand total of eight goals away from home this season.

At £5.9m, Szczesny is a bargain.

2) Phil Jagielka

Sticking with players who have been really solid this season and boast Polish surnames, the Everton man has been impressive so far, picking up 91 points so far and all for a mere £5.8m

Roberto Martinez’s team have often been accused of being as organised defensively as Mumbai’s traffic at peak hour, but the Toffees have only conceded 19 goals this season, 10 of which on the road – the league’s best defensive record away from home.

A trip to West Brom on Monday night could see Everton extend their excellent defensive record, with the Baggies’ already stretched striking options being further depleted by Shane Long’s departure.

3) Adam Lallana

Southampton have been in all sort of problems over the last couple of days, with their players seemingly ready to pack their bags and wave goodbye to the South Coast, hardly ideal preparation for their trip to Sunderland.

It all seems poised for a torrid end to an awful week, but given that football is a funny old game, Saturday’s game could instead turn out to be the only positives for the Saints after a couple of days to forget.

For that to happen, they’ll need Adam Lallana to be at his best. Mark Clattenburg’s best mate has scored twice and assisted three goals in the last five games, making his £7.5m price-tag a rather inviting one.

The Southampton loves an assist or two and has racked up six so far this season, while Sunderland have the league’s second-worst defensive record at home. We’ll leave you to draw your own conclusions…

4) Nikica Jelavic

We all love a gamble during the transfer window and Steve Bruce has certainly taken one, given he’s splashed £6.5m on a striker that hasn’t found the net in the Premier League for 17 (let us spell that out for you, seventeen) games.

Jelavic is priced at an alarming and rather unjustified £6.9m but if you’re struggling for money and can’t afford the likes of Alvaro Negredo, Luis Suarez and Sergio Aguero, then the Croatian might be worth a go.

After all, the last time Jelavic was a January signing he then netted 12 goals in 15 games when he arrived to Everton from Rangers.

We want to know who’ll you include in your team this week.Let us know below or get in touch via our Facebook or Twitter.